Congress

You have to love Rep. Sean Duffy, the congressman representing Wisconsin’s Seventh District. He showed his mettle today in a House hearing at which he questioned Jacob Lew, the United States Secretary of the Treasury. Secretary of the Treasury is a position that has been held by accomplished and prominent Americans going back to Alexander Hamilton. Tax cheat Timothy Geithner depreciated the currency of the office, so to speak, but »

Senator Tom Cotton appeared on Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer this morning (video below). Schieffer grilled and derided Senator Cotton about the letter he drafted setting forth the basic constitutional principles applicable to the deal in process with Iran. Senator Cotton’s remarks should now be viewed in the context of Obama chief of staff Dennis McDonough’s letter last night to Senator Corker, of which Schieffer seemed not to be »

Trey Gowdy, chairman of the special House Committee that’s investigating Benghazi, said today that his committee lacks the power to subpoena Hillary Clinton’s email server because it is personal property. At the same time, Gowdy called on Clinton to turn over the server voluntarily. Clinton “doesn’t get to determine what’s a public record and what’s a personal record,” said Gowdy. Actually, in the absence of a subpoena, Clinton gets to »

Senator Cotton appeared last night on FNC’s Kelly File to defend the letter he drafted to the mullahs on Obama’s deal in process with Iran. Senator Cotton recruited 46 of his Republican colleagues to sign on. An updated PDF of the open letter to the Leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran is posted here. The letter sets forth the applicable constitutional principles that would apply to any such deal. »

As Scott notes, Tom Cotton has created a firestorm with his open letter to Iran, signed by 46 of his Senate colleagues. The letter explains that unless an agreement between President Obama and Iran receives Senate approval, it will not bind the next president. Vice President Biden intones that the letter is “beneath the dignity of an institution I revere.” This is sheer wind-baggery. If Biden revered the Senate, he »

Our friend Senator Tom Cotton has created something of a firestorm with his open letter to Iran, joined in by 46 of his Senate colleagues. The letter sets forth the applicable constitutional principles to the agreement. Our Supreme Leader does not approve; he intends to deliver the agreement in process with Iran to Congress as a done deal. Iran’s Supreme Leader appears to be on board. With his characteristically crude »

Senator Tom Cotton has taken the lead in drafting an open letter to the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Thus far 47 Republican senators have signed off on the letter. The letter explains constitutional principles relevant to the agreement in process that President Obama intends to deliver to Congress as a fait accompli. The letter explains: It has come to our attention while observing your nuclear negotiations with »

Strip away the politics associated with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech to Congress and this simple reality remains: Netanyahu had an urgent, much needed message to deliver about Iran. This morning Netanyahu delivered that message forcefully, persuasively, and to great applause from members of both political parties. A few dozen Democratic members, including a hugely disproportionate number of African-American congressman but also (according to Fox News) half a dozen Jewish members, »

The coming deal with Iran represents folly of a Chamberlainite proportion. One can easily see it in the administration’s prebuttal of Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech, reported in today’s New York Times story by David Sanger and Michael Gordon. I hear the voice of Susan Rice in the unnamed administration official quoted by the Times. Whoever it is speaks out of the love that dare not be identified with his or her »

Charles Krauthammer urges Republicans to abolish the filibuster. He is prompted to advocate this fundamental change for a very narrow purpose — to pass a piece of legislation he expects President Obama to veto. But Krauthammer isn’t talking about an ordinary piece of legislation. He has in mind a bill that would fund the Department of Homeland Security, minus the immigration service which would be denied funds to implement the »

The Prime Minister’s Office has posted the video of Benjamin Netanyahu addressing the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations yesterday (below). The text of Netanyahu’s remarks is posted here. Netanyahu’s remarks were devoted entirely to explaining his acceptance of Speaker Boehner’s invitation to address Congress on March 3. As always, Netanyahu’s remarks are of interest and in contrast with the vilification and abuse that Team Obama has sent his »

The Obama administration reportedly is fuming over Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to accept Speaker Boehner’s invitation to address Congress, which Netanyahu made without consulting the White House. The Israeli Prime Minister will “pay a price,” an administration official told an Israeli newspaper. Obama has perfected the art of ginning up grievances against Netanyahu and using them to seek concessions from Israel, as Netanyahu tries to smooth things over. I assume there’s »

Tevi Troy says that 2015 is shaping up as Obamacare’s worst year. That’s quite a statement, considering how bad a year it had in 2014 — roll-out problems, false claims of 7 million enrollees, and the defeat of congressional supporters of the legislation. The key challenge to Obamacare in 2015 will come in the Supreme Court. A defeat there would certainly make 2015 a potentially near-fatal year for Obama’s only »

Christian Adams reports that Eric Holder has issued a decree stating that cross dressing and transsexualism are now protected under federal civil rights laws designed to protect women from sex discrimination. According to Holder, the “most straightforward reading” of Title VII’s bar on discrimination ‘because of … sex’ — indeed, the “plain meaning” of its text — is that it bars discrimination “based on gender identity, including transgender status.” Therefore, »

As expected, congressional leaders have reached a budget deal. The government will be funded to the tune of $1.01 trillion. This amount will keep all agencies running through September of next year, except for the Department of Homeland Security. It will be funded only through late February. Mitch McConnell says that the Senate will pass the bill before it leaves town this week. Unfortunately, this means that legislators, not to »

The Republican congressional leadership has formulated its short-term strategy for responding to President Obama’s illegal executive amnesty. It wants to pass a continuing resolution that will fund most of the government for a full year, but will fund the Department of Homeland Security — which is responsible for implementing the amnesty — for only a few months. It’s not a terrible strategy, but neither is it optimal, for two reasons. »

As John has noted, the Obama administration is contemplating the imposition of sanctions on Israel as a response to new settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. So says Haaretz, a reliable Israeli source. When asked about this report, White House press secretary Josh Ernest did not deny it. Neither did the State Department’s spokesperson Marie Harf. At a minimum, then, President Obama wants Israel to believe that »